Thank you for reading everyone. I was going to wait until tomorrow to post the next chapter but I decided to go ahead and post it. The first time I went to the Wounded Coast I thought how neat it'd be to camp on one of the shores. It always seems to be nice weather too ^_^ I always felt like there was no possible way Hawke and Fenris avoided their relationship for three years, so I added in some stuff, it's nothing too off canon.
Again please R&R if you like it, hate it, or what have you. I have more chapters ready to post if it's wanted!
I own absolutely nothing from Dragon Age 2, but the game owns every waking minute of my day!
The sun shone brightly, a light breeze swayed the surrounds trees back and forth, allowing some comfort from dry heat. The weather could not have been better for a trip to the coast.
"This looks like a lovely spot! There's trees, sand, water and no bad guys wanting to beat us up!" Merrill chimed, she was probably the most excited.
"This does look like a rather fetching spot, compared to the rest of the coast." Isabella exclaimed surveying her surroundings.
"And look! That rock looks like a table, like a little table made for Dwarves," Merrill giggled.
"Hey now, Daisy," Varric put his hand up in a false defense, "Dwarves don't use, 'little tables', we use finally crafted works of art to sit at. Just what are you trying to say?" He smirked at her
"Oh, nothing!" She said in a sing-song voice.
"Maybe it's that you all are too short for normal sized tables. You need special tables." Fenris dryly spoke up
"And you can have your own table, we'll label it 'The Brooders Table'" Varric laughed heartily and gave Fenris a good jab.
"I do not brood, Dwarf"
"Sure, sure, and I don't tell stories," he waved away Fenris' comment, "Anyway, I'm setting up my tent. Who wants to start the fire?"
"I can do it," out came a burst of fire from Anders' staff right into a pile of conveniently placed wood, "All done." He grinned.
"Well that works too." Varric raised his eyebrow at Anders.
Hawke smiled at the amusing banter from everyone, this is what helped her keep her spirits up. Except when they sometimes say things and don't think, like when Merrill exclaimed in front of everyone that Fenris was in love, and all he said was, "No I'm not." She tried as hard as she could, to act like she didn't hear the conversation, if Fenris and herself were brought up, she just ignored it. Anders liked to bring it up the most, she cared for him like a brother but he just couldn't let it go, and probably never would.
Hawke had planned to use this time to swim since the weather was perfect, her favorite thing was going swimming, seeing how deep she could go. She loved the adrenaline rush of nearly running out of air, but always knowing her limits. She looked around and decided to set her tent up nearest to the beach, so she could slip away and go swimming easier without someone making a big deal about her swim clothes. They weren't exactly modest, all Hightown had was this red one piece, that she thought looked like something you'd wear for your lover, not out swimming, but it was the only thing the store had. Opening her bag, she took out some food that she brought and gave it to Merrill who planned on being their cook for the night. She brought some fish, some rolls, and some tasty vegetables from the secret garden she had. She saw Fenris grimace when she handed Merrill the fish, and she shook her head, that's right, he hates fish. Oh well, he can just deal with it.
They sat around the fire joking and laughing. Each one shared stories about their past, or made up stories if you were Varric. Fenris just sat by and watched, he had no stories he wanted to share, and no one bothered him either. Isabella, Merrill and Anders decided to take a swim before eating dinner while Varric, Hawke and Fenris played diamondback. Thankfully, Varric brought much alcohol along, rather, all he brought was alcohol and Hawke used the alcohol to her advantage, it made being around Fenris much easier.
Laughter and splashing erode from behind them, "Be careful Daisy! Don't go in too far!" Varric yelled out.
Merrill waved back at him with a giant smile and Isabella tackled her under water.
"So protective, I wonder if someone has a crush. You did tell me you weren't into humans, but never spoke of elves." Hawke teased, giving him a sly smirk.
"If I were you, I wouldn't be brining up crushes of any kind, Hawke." Varric bit back playfully.
That no beard devil, she thought shooting him a look, "You're money is mine, I win." She showed her winning hang to them both.
"This is why I only play with Donnic, he's terrible." Fenris shook his head.
"Ah, good job, Hawke. I'll have to find a way to win back my pride somehow."
"I'm going to go off for a walk, I won't be too long. If I don't return in an hour, I'm probably taken captive by some random group of assassins trying to kill me." Hawke proclaimed, with her usual sarcastic tone.
"I'll call everyone in shortly and we'll start cooking the food. They've got to be water-logged by now! Have fun." Varric waved to her, gathering up the cards.
Hawke nodded and started off up the trail, it was getting a little darker now, the sunset could be seen from a higher vantage point and she wanted to watch it fall.
"You're not going to go with her? Stupid elf." Varric scoffed.
"And why would she want me to go with her?" Fenris asked completely puzzled.
"Like I said…stupid elf." Varric shook his head and turned down towards the beach
Fenris stood there, confused. She just wants to be alone…there's no reason why should want me around. What if something happens though? What if someone really does attack her, or a group of someones. Ugh, I should go with her…maybe if I just trail her. Yes, that'd be better. Growling to himself, he started off slowly after her, making sure to keep his distance. He couldn't imagine how embarrassing it would be if she caught him following her, though he could just play it up as Varric made him do it, like she'd believe that.
He followed her up the trail, keeping out of sight and using his elf ways to be silent. Finally, she stopped on top of a hill and looked over the edge. Fenris hid behind a group of trees right behind her. Hawke sat down and gazed out towards the sea, watching the sun fall into the water. He wished nothing more that he could be sitting beside her, sharing this moment instead of apart.
Hawke sighed, she cleared her mind focusing on the sunset. Noticing every color blend together, the oranges, and yellows that made a brilliant gold, and as the sun went down farther there was a deep red that ungulfed the sun, slowly turning into darkness. She suddenly felt something was wrong…her peace that washed over her was being drained from her. This feeling, this was the feeling she got when someone was close on her heel. Someone is here she thought, I could either freak out or…play it off.
"Would you like to come and watch the sunset with me, or are you going to just sit back there and be creepy?"
Fenris froze in place. His breathing stopped, his thinking stopped and his heart stopped.
"Well? What is it?"
He started walking out from behind the trees apprehensively, "S-sorry. I didn't mean to-"
Hawke whipped around in one motion rising to her feet to face him, "Fenris? I didn't know it was you, frankly I didn't know who it was." She stopped, unsure of what to say. The two of the stood there awkwardly, until Hawke looked at him quixotically.
"What?" Fenris asked sharply.
"Did you follow me all the way up here? Is something the matter? Everything's alright?"
"No, no nothings wrong. Yes…I did follow you, though. Varric just wanted to make sure you would be okay, so he insisted that I came." Ugh, you actually used that excuse, you fool, he thought.
She squinted at him, trying to read him, "I see," she stared at him, and he cast his gaze down, "Well, I was just about to head back anyway. Shall we?"
He nodded and waited for her to go ahead of him, he followed behind her a few feet, watching her, wishing he could just say something, anything that wasn't stupid.
She stopped suddenly and he nearly ran into her, she huffed and turned around, "Fenris I-"
"We should really get back. I'm sure they are waiting for us to eat," he cut her off, he didn't want to know what she was going to say, no he did, he just was afraid of what it would be.
"No, I want to say this and I'm going to say it now. I don't understand, and I will never understand, not unless you explain yourself. I see the way you look-"
He grabbed her arms and looked her in the eye with a look that took her breathe away, "Please," he pleaded, "I can't. Not yet. Not now…"
Her heart sank into the pit of her stomach, she felt tears well up into her eyes, she blinked hard "Forget it then." she turned around, quickened her pace back to the camp.
He sighed, "Venhedes." he brought his hand up to his hair, and ran his fingers through it, "Just…a little longer Hawke. Give me time." he whispered to himself.
Everyone was now gorged on fish, fruit, desserts and roasted vegetables. There was little left and they all sat around the fire joking and drinking. Varric was telling a store about two hideous dwarf women that fought over him when he was lad, Merrill sat intently next to him drinking up his silly story. Isabella looked over to Hawke and rolled her eyes, smirking. Hawke returned the look, everyone knew his stories were bullshit, except Merrill, she adored them.
Hawke waited in her tent, feigning tiredness. She retired to wait until everyone went to sleep. The main reason she came on this trip was to go swimming, to get that adrenaline rush. She heard the last of the goodnights outside, and waited until she heard no one stir. She swiftly slipped into her bathing suit, peeked outside to make sure the coast was clear and started to the water. The water was nearly perfect, if anything it was almost too warm, she swam out deeper her toes brushed near the bottom of the beach floor, she dove underwater and swam faster and farther out. Coming up to take a breathe she emerged from under water, taking long deep breaths. This was exactly what she needed.
Fenris lie awake, his arms folded under his head. He was thinking about how he should approach meeting his sister, imaging different ways that it would go down. How could he talk to her? What would he talk about? His mind was going in circles. What if she resented him? What if she wanted to live with him? That could never work. He tried to not even think about the fact that it might be a set-up, and that Danarius would be there to take him back. That was not going to happen, he would not allow it. Suddenly Fenris was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone moving out of their tent. He was curious as to who it was, so he waited a moment and pulled his tent open, looking out, he saw Hawke's silhouette moving towards the beach, she appeared to be wearing very little clothes, if anything as far as he could tell. He watched his slip in the water and dive under, mindlessly, he rose from out of his tent and walked to the shore, watching her. She was absolutely the most beautiful thing he had ever saw, she was completely uninhibited now, she looked so carefree and light. He continued to watch her swim farther and farther, occasionally diving under the water and then rising to the surface. Until, he felt his heart stop, Hawke did not rise from the surface as she usually did. Fearing what might happen, he quickly started into the water after her, swimming at full speed.
Fenris swam hard and fast, moving to where he had seen her last, he stopped, waiting a moment to see if her seen her anywhere, and then started pushing farther out, his heart was pumping, he was repeating in his head no, no, no, NO, NO! over and over again. He stopped when he saw bubbles coming up from below him, about a foot away, then he saw a figure rising to the surface. Hawke flew up out of the water and started heaving for air, her lungs empty of any oxygen. He flew over to her, grabbing her arms and pulling her toward him, holding her up.
Hawke had her eyes closed for so long underwater, when she came up they needed to adjust, so all she saw was someone next to her. She blinked a couple times, pushing the water out and gaining focus.
"Are you alright?" He furrowed his brow and stared at her intently, worried.
She inhaled and exhaled sharply, "I'm fine," she stared at him, utterly confused, "What in Maker's name are you doing out here?"
"I-I saw you go into the water and then you didn't come up for awhile. I apologize, I thought you were drowning." He looked down, completely embarrassed that he had overreacted.
She let out a laugh which surprised him, "You thought I was drowning? Me?" She was now in a laughing fit.
He couldn't help but start chuckling along with her, after all it was kind of silly. How could he possibly think that Hawke would drown? She is the most capable woman he knows. There they were together, treading water and laughing. Their laughter slowly quieted and then all that was heard was their breathing and the slight splashing of the water underneath their arms. She was staring at him, but he could not make out her face as well as she could his. The moon lit his face up brilliantly, his moss green eyes flickered in the light, and his hair almost appeared to glow. She couldn't stop staring at him, and even though he couldn't see her, he stared intently at her wanting nothing more than to grab her and just explain everything to her.
His words pierced the air around them, "I'll…be going. I'm sorry for-" he stopped, unsure of how to word it, "Ah, I just apologize."
He turns slowly, starting to swim back towards the shore. Hawke grabs his arm, halting him, "Fenris…wait."
Instinctively his lyrium flares, a pulse of energy flows through him and the area around glows with a blue aura. He turns around and pushes his hand behind her neck, thrusting her towards him, smashing his lips against hers. He pushes his tongue against her lips, pleading for her to open them, he nibbles on her lower lip and slides his tongue in against hers. He's completely overtaken by his desire for her.
Hawke's heart is pounding, all in one moment he was brightly glowing in front of her, grabbing her and kissing her. She had no time to react, and melted when his lips touched hers. She didn't want it to stop, and she couldn't stop it even if she tried. She pulled away to take a breath, while Fenris kissed her neck lightly up and down.
"Wh-what was that about?" He did not reply to her, he only kept kissing her neck, switching from her left side to the right side of her neck, "Fenris?" She demanded, pulling him away from her.
He suddenly realized what he had just done, he blinked "I-I am so sorry. I should go." He turned around but did not move.
"Wait, what? You're just going to leave again? Really?"
The words pierced him like a dagger in the heart, he turned around to look at her, he slid in hand behind her neck and looked her in the eyes, pleading with her to understand, "Please, just…soon. Give me time…" His own heart fell into the pit of his stomach at the words he was saying. He let his hand fall, drifting across her cheek. She was left alone, again. She didn't understand his words, it was like he was speaking Arcanum to her. She just watched him glide away from her, like he did three years before.
